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Tea Sparrow Subscription Box

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

If you're a regular reader, it may have come to your attention that I like tea. Actually, that's a bit of an under-statement. You guys, I probably have tea running through my veins in place of blood. With several pots of tea a day, you'd think I might know a bit more about tea, but I'm actually a total novice about different kinds of teas. Lucky for me, Tea Sparrow is trying to change that with their company, the first in North America to send tea in subscription boxes. You can imagine my delight when they offered to send a box for me to try.

Their subscription box is normally twenty dollars, and comes monthly to your door- with free shipping if you are in Canada or the continental United States! Each box contains four loose leaf teas, usually picked on a theme. May's box was to help fight back in allergy season. The teas in the box were: Apeldoorn's House Blend (a black tea with vanilla, ginger and cinnamon), a Peppermint Tea, Freedom Tea (An herbal green and red roobis tea), and Milk Oolong (a green tea). Each comes in resealable packages, and include a label with ingredients, steeping suggestions, and where you can order more of this tea from. Tea Sparrow sends loose leaf teas from companies all over the world, so many samples come from varied places. Each package contains about ten ounces of the loose leaf tea, so that a box will get you approximately thirty-five to forty cups of tea.

Since the tea choices vary from box to box, I won't spend too much time on my thoughts on each of this month's flavor. The peppermint was my favorite, but all were fun to try, and I was pleased with the variety. We were given black teas, green teas, and herbal ones, so in a given box, there should be something to please everyone. Plus, with an eye towards the coming heat of summer, almost all of the teas chosen for this box were ones that could be consumed hot or cold. Though what teas are in a box are ultimately chosen by the company, they do hold bi-monthly "teas" where you can vote for your favorite types, making it more likely that one will be chosen. Not only does it give the customer a say, but could create a fun community.

It is such a cozy and fun thing to receive tea in the mail! Sipping each different flavor, I really wondered whether I would purchase a box on my own for future use. Twenty dollars is a great price for most subscription boxes; on the other hand, it might be just a touch steep for forty cups worth of tea. However, I really think I will buy more boxes from them again. Especially if you are like me and don't know much about teas, this is a great way to learn, and the sizes are perfect for that. It is not so much you are overwhelmed with having a ton of a type of tea you don't like, but enough for several cups- whether all for yourself or to try with friends- so that you can really decide if you like the taste or not. It just seems like a perfect way to figure out what teas you like and find new favorites- not bad at all for the price of one Hamilton! However, you can get a full sixty percent off, and get your first box of Tea Sparrow for only eight dollars simply by using this link here and using the password "teas."

2 comments

Just a quick note, oolong tea IS NOT a green tea. It is one of the types of tea that is processed differently from green, black, white, yellow and pu-erh teas. Milk oolong is a greener type of oolong than some oolongs which can be roasted. I read another review that said that milk oolong contains milk, which is also not true. Milk oolongs taste milk-like because of the cultivar that the oolong is produced from, but do not contain any milk. The milk oolong that TeaSparrow acquired from the vendor on the vendor's website says that this particular milk oolong is not a true milk oolong in that it is steamed over milk. Their website even calls it Milky Oolong to let consumers know that it is not a true milk oolong.

Thank you for the helpful information Julie! You are right. So good to undersatnd a bit more aobut tea from what you shared.

For other readers- Though Tea Sparrow labelled the Milk Oolong I got in this box a green tea, the store they purchased it from label it a "semi-green" on and say that it's leaves are steamed over milk. The original vendors call it a "Milky Oolong."